Gone by Morning
by she disenchants
Summary: Steam Powered Giraffe. They all knew it was coming. Crystal Pepsi was a finite resource. They'd been told that The Jon was living on borrowed time. Enjoy him while you can... Oneshot. Character death.


_A/N: So when Jon left the group I didn't want to buy into the headcanon that The Jon had run out of Crystal Pepsi. I prefer to think that he left to explore Kazooland to satisfy his wanderlust (which I'm pretty sure at this point is actual canon). However, the call of the sadfic was too strong, and I wrote this. Finally posting it here. I also threw in a Peter Pan reference. See if you can catch it. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with Steam Powered Giraffe. The Jon belongs to Jon Sprague._

* * *

They knew it would happen eventually. It was inevitable. They knew it from the moment the soda had been discontinued. Suddenly there was a limited supply of it in the world… and this meant a limited supply of The Jon. They'd bought up all they could and saved it, using only as much as was necessary to keep up with the bot. But they knew it was a finite resource. _Enjoy him while you can…_

The Jon was the first to find out that he was on his last bottle. Every since he began to realize that he was reaching the end of his supply, he'd started insisting on getting it for himself. He didn't want the others to know how much time he had left. He wanted everything to stay the same. He didn't want to see the worried looks or sad glances that would be inevitable if they knew the truth. So he kept it to himself all through the summer. They played at the zoo like always. And Jon was his usual bubbly self. He performed at the top of his game, he hula hooped, he played with the children, he talked with the fans. And no one suspected a thing.

Texas was his last show. He knew it would be. He wasn't sure how much those few bottles would last him, but he knew it wasn't long. He put his heart and soul into that show. His last show. And no one knew but him.

When he went into the storeroom that morning there was only one bottle left. He smiled to himself as he picked it up, opened, and drank every last drop. No one had to know.

He spent the day the way he usually did. He pestered Sam, he had a jam session with Michael, he annoyed The Spine, and he played with Rabbit. He laughed and skipped and sang and he was Jon. He was just Jon.

He started to slow down by the evening. He always did. Worn out by the day's antics, he would usually go into his stasis chamber and power up for the next day, where another bottle of Crystal Pepsi would be waiting for him. But tonight was different. He started looking for Rabbit, who was usually so wrapped in his own thoughts that he would forget to power down for days on end. He found his brother on the back porch of the manor, staring up at the few stars that were visible.

"Say, Rabbit," he began, walking up behind the older automaton.

Rabbit turned as quickly as his rusty joints would permit. "Oh, heya The Jon."

"Say, Rabbit, where do you think things go when they die?" he asked, taking a seat beside his brother.

Rabbit frowned, "Now why would ya ask something like that?"

Jon shrugged, following Rabbit's gaze to the sky.

Rabbit's eyes narrowed suspiciously. It was rare to see Jon sit still, let alone begin pondering such philosophical things. He usually only expressed himself to that extent in his music, and not through conversation.

"I-I-I don't know, buddy. Does it really matter?"

"No," Jon replied, "I guess not."

They sat there in silence for a moment. Then, Jon bounced up and bounded down the steps and onto the grass which surrounded the manor. He turned to Rabbit, grabbed his suspenders, and rocked back on his heels, his signature smile on his face.

"I've made a decision!" he declared in his usual sing-song voice, "I'm going to Kazooland~!"

"Y-y-you're what?" Rabbit asked.

"My people in Biscuit Town need me," he explained in a serious tone. He stepped closer to his brother, and something sincere and much more mature than Rabbit was used to seeing shone in Jon's eyes. "And maybe there's Crystal Pepsi in Kazooland."

Rabbit stopped. He knew what this was about. "Oh, Jon…"

The Jon's smile almost seemed sad. "I'll miss you, Rabbit."

Rabbit took a step closer, "Jon…"

"Tell Michael I'm sorry he's going to miss this adventure…" his eyes were beginning to flicker.

Rabbit turned and called over his shoulder, "Sam! We need maintenance!" He turned back to his brother, his hands held out hesitantly.

"This will be an awfully big adventure…" Jon muttered, the smile still on his face.

Rabbit watched as The Jon's shining blue photoreceptors flickered once more, then dimmed. The bot seemed to sigh as he began to fall. Before he hit the ground, however, he started to dissolve into the rift in his chest. Rabbit stared until there was nothing left of his brother, Walter's golden boy. All that remained was a koi fish, swimming up and down the rip in the space/time continuum that his brother had left behind.

And even that would be gone by morning.


End file.
